Wine, Beer and Cocktails
Toronto’s own High Park Brewery has two options, “Brewer” or “Brewmaster,” and the latter of the two includes free delivery in the GTA of its monthly package: 12 beers with a food pairing, Zoom chats with the brewers, the occasional swag and other bonus items. Prices range between $45 and $430.
In addition, we found four other craft brewers offering free delivery in Toronto: Sawdust City Brewery; Refined Fool Brewing Co.; Muskoka Breweryand Badlands Brewing Company, the latter of which offers weekly drops.
Although there are plenty of Niagara wine clubs, I cherrypicked Malivoire because it’s an independent with a commitment to eco-friendly practices. And, unlike a lot of wine memberships, its “Keep It Coming” club has a fixed price instead of fluctuating prices depending on the shipment. Options range from $178.70 to $196.70 per sixbottle shipment and the wine shows up four times per year.
Fans of the County will be happy to hear that Rosehall Run Vineyards offers a Vintner’s Selection Box of pre-releases, back vintages and new expressions for $99 (three bottles), also every three months. Winemaker Dan Sullivan picks the bottles from his library, but we hear that vineyard cat Charlie has a say in the final selection.
If you want your wine handpicked for you by master sommeliers, both Wine Align and Charlie’s Burgers have been shipping mixed cases of rare finds (both imports and local) on a monthly basis to members since long before the pandemic and, of course, are still offering this essential service. Prices vary, depending on how fancy you want to get.
We hesitate to bring multinational Eataly into this but,
since our friend really likes fancy Italian food and drink, we thought we should flick at the fact that it now offers a monthly wine subscription of three bottles, starting at $95 a month.
Into natural wine? Love the funk? You’ll want to know about the clubs at Grape Witches and Lake Inez, two awesome local businesses that offer “weird” and “witchy” natural, organic and biodynamic wines, and are working hard to stay afloat with bricks and mortar spaces closed. Both charge extra for delivery.
And, last but not least, there
are cocktails and spirits. Reid’s Distillery, an east-end, familyowned craft gin mill, has a Cocktail-of-the-Month Club option ($90), which we love, since it provides fresh inspiration (and all the necessary ingredients) to home cocktail bartenders. Skip the stirring and shaking if you just want a solid G&T kit delivered to your door every 30 days (also $90).
Niagara’s Dillon’s Small Batch Distillers has had a “Sipping Society” ($500 a year) up and running for a long time. This four-time-a-year package includes bottles, bitters, swag and special events. Over in Prince Edward County, Kinsip House of Fine Spirits has an annual membership as well as a new Winter Cocktail Club, starting at $100, that includes bottles and Zoom cocktail classes.
There you go, friend: everything you need to run your life like clockwork more or less.
Although, might we suggest adding on a subscription to the Toronto Star? Given all the time you’re saving by getting everything delivered, you’ll want something to read while you’re sipping and snacking through the winter hibernation, after all.